Healing
by Historyexplorer12
Summary: Patroclus' parents were murdered when the boy was two years old. The toddler has nightmares, and continues to have them as he gets older. Achilles, as his cousin & guardian, comforts him. Disclaimer: Patroclus & Achilles belong to the movie Troy and Greek mythology Warning: nightmares T to be safe!
1. Chapter 1

"Shh, shh..." Achilles paced his baby cousin's nursery, a bounce to his step. The child of two years sobbed on his shoulder, nightmares from the trauma he had suffered only a few months prior keeping him awake.

"Mumma, Mumma..." the child wailed.

"Hush, Little Man, you're all right. It was just a dream. I need to sit down," Achilles sat in the rocking chair in the room and began to rock, back and forth, back and forth.

* * *

It turned out that as Patroclus got older, the nightmares got worse, mixing reality with false memories.

"PAPA!" an eight-year-old Patroclus shot up in bed, drenched in sweat.

Heavy, quiet footsteps came down the hall and then Achilles was opening Patroclus' bedroom door, a robe around his shoulders.

"Little Man, it's early. What's wrong?" without answering, Patroclus reached for his cousin and guardian, who went to the boy's bedside and took him in his arms. His long legs came around Achilles' hips and gripped his waist tightly, just as his arms were doing to the warrior's neck.

"Okay, shh, shh... Zeus, you're heavy..." this only served to make the eight-year-old sob harder into his cousin's bare shoulder, "It's all right," Achilles turned to go out lof the room, down the hall, and to his own bedroom.

Once there, he laid Patroclus in the big bed and went to the wooden chest by the window. Opening it, he took out the deteriorating, stuffed lion on top of the blankets that were folded inside.

"Here you are, Little man. Alexios will protect you," the boy clutched the stuffed animal to his chest, kissing it on its head briefly. Then Achilles went to the empty side of the bed, and laid down, drawing Patroclus to his chest.

"'m sorry..."

"No need to be sorry. You may not be as little as you once were, but you will always be welcome here. Now go to sleep," Achilles began to card his fingers comfortingly through his young cousin's light brown hair, as well as sing a lullaby almost under his breath.

Within minutes, Patroclus was soundly and contently asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Patroclus woke up to an empty bed. As he began to panic, Achilles came into the doorway, breakfast in hand.

"Stay," right away, Patroclus froze, and then rearranged the blankets and sat up against the headboard, "Are you tired?" as Achilles set down the tray on the small table by the window.

Patroclus scooted down the bed so his head was on the pillow, nodding slowly. He began to cry, hugging Alexios so tight that Achilles thought he would burst the animal's fragile stitches.

"Hey... Easy... Breathe..."

As Achilles came to comfort him, Patroclus tried to do as he suggested, but he only ended up coughing harshly, nearly curling into a tight ball as he did. He continued to cry, his hands shaking visibly. He tried to quell the shaking by gripping the bedsheets, but Achilles saw the tremors and immediately took charge.

"We need to get food in you," he grabbed a slice of bread and smeared honey on it as Patroclus shook his head, feeling he did not have the stomach to eat at the moment, "Yes. I will feed you," Achilles sat on the bed's edge and thrust the bread into his distraught cousin's face.

Patroclus ate obediently, choking down the sweet bread and swallowing the fresh goat's milk.

"Good boy..." Achilles praised.

Patroclus whined around the milk, and when he was finished, reached for and clutched his cousin's waist. It was then that Achillies knew it was going to be a bad day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Warning: May be disturbing for some**

"We are going for a ride," Achilles said with finality after he absolutely sure Patroclus had gotten enough to eat.

"No... Exádelfos..." Patroclus protested weakly as Achilles sat him up.

"Yes. Come," he held out his arms, and, when he was finally allowed, cradled Patroclus to his chest.

Wrapping the child in a warm blanket despite the weather outside, he took him to the stable and set him on his own horse. Patroclus whimpered at the loss of his cousin.

"Shh, I'm here," with practiced ease, Achilles mounted the horse behind the young boy, securing him against his chest with one arm.

It wasn't long before the warmth of the blanket and the horse's gentle gait rocked Patroclus to sleep, despite his efforts to stay awake, frightened of the nightmares he was sure were to come.

Achilles sighed in relief as he watched his cousin's eyes close. The child needed sleep or there would be consequences, and his health would suffer. Just not eating this morning had posed a risk to him.

Patroclus snuffled in his sleep, and Achilles rearraged himself so he could settle the boy on his shoulder.

"I have you, you are safe," he promised.

After an hour of riding and a sleeping boy, Achilles went back to the stable. As Achilles took Patroclus down from the horse, the boy moaned his protest, half awake after being jostled from the place where he was comfortable.

"I know, Little Man. I promise you will be in your own bed in a moment."

Just as he promised, Achilles had his little cousin in his nightgown and in his bed, and then piled it high with blankets, in minutes.

"There you go, Little Man, nice and safe..." after a moment, Achilles left the room, leaving the door ajar to hear if his cousin woke up.

He had the right idea, as half an hour later, he heard a scream.

Running into his cousin's room, he saw him thrashing and kicking.

"Patroclus! Shh, shh!" he tried to contain him to the bed, to try and prevent the boy from hurting himself. Just as he was doing that, Patroclus gave a blood curdling scream, tears streaming down his face.

"THEY'RE HERE, THEY WANT ME!"

Achilles glanced quickly around the room, but saw no one.

"No one is here, Little Man-"

"THERE THEY ARE! PLEASE, PLEASE!" he begged, staring out the bedroom door.

Staring helplessly at his cousin, Achilles dashed out of the room to make chamomile tea, as well as grab some lavender and rosemary to burn inside the room. He went back to his cousin's room to find him quiet but laying absolutely still and not blinking.

"Come, Little Man," he sat down on the bed and sat Patroclus in his lap, "take a drink," carefully, he tipped the cup up to the boy's mouth, and then massaged his throat to get him to swallow, at the same time checking his pulse.

It was faster than it should have been, but it was steady.

"You're safe now, Sweetheart. The evil is gone," and he began to sing the lullaby of Patroclus' infanthood, "Just relax..." he began to rock, "S 'agapó..."

Unbeknownst to Achilles, tears began to stream down his cheeks.

**Translations: **

**Exádelfos = Cousin (Greek)**

**S 'agapó = I love you (Greek)**

**I used Google Translate for the translations, so please correct me if they are wrong!**

**AN: For those of you that don't know, I found a website ( I am researching as needed with this story), about the magical properties of herbs. It said that chamomile is usually used to sooth and calm. As for lavender, it is very protective. Finally, rosemary was used by the Ancient Greeks to ward off evil spirits. **


	4. Chapter 4

Patroclus was unresponsive for two days. During that time, Achilles kept vigil, feeding and bathing his little cousin. Finally, with a groan, Patroclus woke up slowly, his eyes blurry.

"'Killes?" he looked at his cousin and guardian.

"Good morning," Achilles smiled brightly, relieved that his Little One was all right, "How are you feeling?" immediately, Patroclus teared up, "Shh... it is okay..." Achilles took him into his arms, "Just rest. When you feel up to it, I would like to purge your stomach to make sure you did not ingest something that will make you sick again."

Patroclus' vision cleared as the words registered, and he began to panic, "What? No! Zeus no! Please no!"

As the boy began to fight with everything his body had, which wasn't much at that moment, Achilles caught his flailing arms and gently bent both arms up to the boy's chest and laid down next to him, shushing him.

"Shh, shh..." Achilles rubbed the boy's stomach in calming circles, "I can give you some Valerian when we do this if you would like?" Patroclus nodded slowly, breathing in relief, "Do you want to do it now?" Patroclus nodded again, reluctantly.

Achilles helped him sit up against the pillows before giving him some Valerian tea to drink, making him drowsy, but Achilles made sure to keep him awake.

"It's time, Little Man."

Patroclus moaned, but allowed Achilles to do what he had to do. Seconds later, Patroclus began to retch into the bowl that Achilles held over the side of the bed.

"Good boy, good boy, good boy!" Achilles praised.

After about thirty minutes, with rest points in between the heaves, it was over. By that time, Patroclus was sweating, his hair drenched. Achilles wiped his mouth with a wet cloth before pulling away and finding his bile clear. So he wasn't poisoned. Achilles gave a silent sigh of relief.

Then he went to take care of his cousin, who was drowsy enough to fall asleep after a few soothing strokes of his hair by his devoted guardian.

**AN: The calming herb I use here to make Patroclus half asleep and calm is Valerian. According to Wikipedia, was used since the time of Ancient Greece and Rome. The purgative I mention is Cassia fistula, or the golden shower tree was from India, according to Wikipedia. **


	5. Chapter 5

After having his stomach purged, Patroclus seemed to get better, sitting up on his own in bed and feeding himself.

"'Killes," he said one morning over breakfast in bed, "I want to see them. Can we find them, please?"

"Of course we can, Little Man. Whatever you need."

The boy teared up, and collapsed into his guardian's arms, breathing heavily to quell the threat of tears. Then the flood of tears came and all Achilles could do was hold on tight, just as he had always done.

* * *

The next week, they began packing and preparing for the trip to Pythia. Finally, it was the night before they were going to leave. Patroclus was emotional. He was crying, shaking with nerves, and cursing the gods all at once, and all while pacing before Achilles. Suddenly, he was full-out sobbing and his knees were giving out underneath him. Achilles caught him and brought him against himself.

"Hush, Patroclus, you're safe..."

"I can't do this, I can't do this..." Patroclus shook his head against his guardian's shoulder.

Achilles pet the boy's hair soothingly, "Yes you can. I know you can."

"No, I can't!"

"Patroclus, listen to me. Look at me. I will go with you, and I swear to the gods that I will keep you safe. I love you."

Patroclus could only nod haltingly before he began sobbing harder. Achilles took him into his arms and swayed and shushed quietly, not saying anything else.


End file.
